The Roman Catholic Maronite Eparchy of St Maroun is a Maronite rite

Maronite Church

The Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See of Rome . It traces its heritage back to the community founded by Maron, a 4th-century Syriac monk venerated as a saint. The first Maronite Patriarch, John Maron, was elected in the late 7th...

 eparchy

Eparchy

Eparchy is an anglicized Greek word , authentically Latinized as eparchia and loosely translating as 'rule over something,' like province, prefecture, or territory, to have the jurisdiction over, it has specific meanings both in politics, history and in the hierarchy of the Eastern Christian...

 of the Catholic Church in Australia, based in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

. Erected in 1973, the Eparchy is attached to the Archdiocese of Sydney

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney is a Latin rite metropolitan archdiocese, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.Erected in 1842 and directly responsible to the Holy See, the Archdiocese is responsible for the suffragan dioceses of Armidale, Bathurst, Broken Bay, Lismore,...

 but immediately subject to the Holy See

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

.

Like all Catholic dioceses it is a member of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference. The Roman Catholic Church is made up of the Latin or Western Catholic Church and 21 Eastern Catholic Churches, one of which is the Maronite Church. The Eparchy is non-geographic, but demographic in that it has Australia-wide

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 jurisdiction wherever Maronites are found. It has many churches, schools, nursing homes and other institutions in all capital cities.

Ordinaries

The following individuals have been elected as Maronite Eparch of Saint Maroun:

Order	Name	Title	Date enthroned	Reign ended	Term of office	Reason for term end
1	Ignace Abdo Khalifé, S.J. Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...  †	Archbishop of St Maron of Sydney (Maronite)	25 June 1973	23 November 1990		Retired and appointed Bishop Emeritus of St Maron of Sydney
2	Joseph Hitti	Bishop of St Maron of Sydney (Maronite)	23 November 1990	26 October 2001		Retired and appointed Bishop Emeritus of St Maron of Sydney
3	Ad Abi Karam	Bishop of St Maron of Sydney (Maronite)	26 October 2001	present		n/a

External links

• Maronite Eparchy of Australia
• Maronite Diocese of Saint Maroun